Right now, we’re all thinking about what we can do to keep our health and well-being in peak condition. The wellness of your employees may not have always been at the forefront of your mind—it’s okay! We’re not judging—but you may find yourself wondering now what you can do to keep your company’s most valuable assets healthy and safe.
Up to this point, your focus has probably been on immediate issues related to COVID-19, like making sure your employees can safely social distance when they return to the office, or ensuring there are enough masks and gloves to go around if working from home wasn’t an option. Those are good things to be thinking about but, well, they’re short-term solutions. The fact is, the novel coronavirus pandemic has only highlighted a reality that already existed: the reality that our preventative care measures are not where they should be.
How are you investing in employee preventative care?
The Cost of Poor Employee Health
It’s hard to put an exact price tag on employee health, good or bad. But there are a few things we do know. Currently, according to the American Institute of Stress, American workers are taking over 200 million sick days each year specifically for preventable health problems, often related to stress from their jobs. Each paid sick day costs companies an average of over 600 dollars per employee per day. And with over 1 million workers calling in sick every day, those dollars add up very quickly.
But there’s more being lost than money, here. If you have an employee who’s in the middle of an important project call off work, then an entire day of productivity from them is lost. Now, they will either have to make up the difference when they come back—which may lead to subpar, rushed work—or their coworkers will have to pick up the slack, which leaves them less time for their own work and may also lead to lackluster results.
All of that leads to added stress that spreads through the whole company, building up a stress debt that can be difficult to pay down if it’s not tackled hard and fast.
What Happens When You Invest in Employee Well-Being
Now, let’s imagine the same scenario but with employee well-being in your company’s corner. Because your company has instituted a wellness program, your stressed employee has resources to help combat their stress. Instead of calling off work, maybe they go to the company meditation room to decompress for a few minutes each day. Or, because they’ve learned the importance of staying hydrated and drink plenty of water now, they don’t get as many headaches, which improves their productivity and also reduces their stress. They might also participate in weekly wellness challenges with their coworkers, building up a more positive company culture, which can also do wonders for workplace stress.
With holistic preventative care in place, there is no need for your employee to call off work, because they never got sick in the first place. They can stay on board, get their work done, and the well-oiled machine that is your company can keep running smoothly.
What we’re describing may sound like a panacea, but it’s not as unrealistic as it might sound. These changes don’t happen overnight; it often takes weeks or months of small, consistent behavior changes that gradually snowball into bigger, cultural shifts. But with dedication and support, it is absolutely possible to harness the power of workplace wellness to reduce sick days, improve productivity, enhance company culture, and even reduce employee turnover.
How Fabulous Can Boost Employee Health and Well-Being
The good news is you don’t need a team of doctors or wellness coaches or any fancy or expensive equipment to bring a solid wellness program to your business. In fact, how you implement a program will be highly dependent on what your company’s needs and wishes are. No two wellness programs look the same because no two businesses are the same.
But if you’re overwhelmed and want something that’s simple, accessible, and effective, look no further than Fabulous for Work. The Fabulous app has over 10 million downloads and was rated Apple’s Best Self-Care App in 2019. And we’ve got a new program specifically geared toward helping companies bring out the best in their employees. We’re dedicated to creating a happier, healthier, and ultimately more productive work environment.
To learn more, click here or go to thefabulous.co/work to contact us!
